SPCR Researcher Spotlight | Professor Evangelos Kontopantelis and Professor Helen Atherton

"The SPCR fellowship was critical in my career development, allowing me to prioritise and focus my research objectives. Following that, I was able to argue for tenure with my home institution, which unlocked many more
opportunities in terms of teaching and supervising, which unfortunately are out of reach for many academics on fixed-term contracts.

Besides the obvious funding opportunities, which were career defining, the biggest advantage is/was the privilege to interact and collaborate with esteemed colleagues across numerous institutions.”

"The opportunity early in my career, as post-doc fellow, to build my research portfolio in my area of interest was key.

It supported me to do this following on from my PhD, capitalising on the research I had already done and building on it.
It allowed me to build my networks in academic primary care, via conferences, and SPCR events, as well as in the department I worked in and gave me the
experience needed to move to my next post.

I received the funding at a point in which I wanted to expand my research beyond what I had done during my PhD, and it gave me the time and space to do this.”